The Mistress?
by cleotheo
Summary: Hermione Granger's friends haven't seen her for over ten years, and when she appears back in their lives she seems to be the mistress of one of Wizarding Britain's richest wizards. But is Hermione really a Malfoy Mistress, of have her friends jumped to all the wrong conclusions? Short, light-hearted reunion story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Welcome to my first story of the year. This story has 7 chapters and updates will be twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. This is a fun, lighthearted story and features one of my favourite plot elements – a reunion. I hope you all enjoy it.**

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Registering his wand and bank details with Wizarding Britain's largest, and most prestigious, auction house, Harry Potter hoped he was doing the right thing. He and his wife, Ginny, were attending one of the largest auction days in the year with the hopes of buying a house. The couple had a lovely house in Godric's Hollow, but for years Harry had promised Ginny that they could move somewhere bigger as their family expanded and he progressed at work. And within the last year, Harry had been promoted to Head Auror, and the couple had welcomed their second son.

From the second she'd fallen pregnant, Ginny had been on the lookout for a new, larger house, but it had taken her some months to get her eye on the right place. The right house was a magnificent three storey mansion in the Wiltshire countryside with gorgeous landscaped gardens and several acres of unused land. Ginny had fallen in love with the house as soon as she'd seen it, and although Harry personally thought it was a bit big and extravagant for them, he'd had to admit it was a lovely property and since Ginny had set her heart on it, he'd promised to do his very best to buy it for his wife.

Harry had thought that buying the house would be a straight forward thing, but when he'd enquired about the house he'd learnt that it was already scheduled to be auctioned. Which meant that if he wanted the house, and Ginny had made it clear that she did, he would have to make sure he placed the winning bid on the house. Of course, it could mean paying way over the odds for the house if they weren't careful, but Harry had warned his wife that as rich as they were, they had a limit and Harry wasn't going to bankrupt them just to buy a house.

"Ooh, this is so exciting," Ginny gushed at Harry's side as they were handed their bidding panel with its own unique number which only appeared when it was raised to bid on something.

Thanks to the details Harry had just turned over the number on the panel would only light up if he had the funds to pay for what he was bidding for. It was the auctioneers way of ensuring that someone didn't buy something they couldn't afford and then default on the payment.

"Just remember that we night not get the house," Harry cautioned his wife. "I've got a budget, and I won't be pushed over it."

"But our budget is a few thousand over the recommended price," Ginny countered. "I doubt many other people can afford to match that."

Looking around, Harry wasn't too sure his wife was right. There was more on sale than just the house they had their eye on, but Harry could spot several movers and shakers wandering around the auction. There were certainly people present that could match, if not exceed, his wealth, and he wasn't sure the auction would be a clear-cut matter. All he could hope was that the super-rich witches and wizards had their eyes on other prizes and no-one else was after the house Ginny has set her heart on.

After checking out what time the property auctions would be beginning, Harry and Ginny had a drink and a snack before taking their seats near the front of the auction room. For a while Harry watched the room fill up, and he waved a greeting to his old dorm-mates, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan. The pair ran a highly successful bar in Diagon Alley, and Harry knew they had their eyes on a waterfront property, so they could begin their long talked about expansion and get themselves a second bar in what they hoped would be a chain.

By the time the auction was about to begin, Harry had turned back to the front of the room, so he missed someone he hadn't seen for many years entering the room and taking a seat near the back. The house Harry and Ginny wanted was the third property up for sale, so the couple watched the first two auctions in silence. Then it was the turn of the house they wanted, and they both shot to attention as the first bid was placed.

Eager to see what the competition was like, Harry watched the first couple of bids come in. As the bids crawled up he decided that none of his competitors could really match him, so he confidently raised the bid by over a thousand galleons. As he expected two of his rivals immediately dropped out, but a third bidder seemed just as keen on the property as Harry and kept matching him bid for bid.

"Push higher," Ginny urged her husband as their rival bidder kept pace with them. "We've still got a considerable margin to play with."

"I don't want to spend more than I have to, Ginny," Harry shot back, but he still raised the bid substantially.

Even with Harry's hike the rival bidder carried on going until Harry was virtually at his limit. Eventually losing patience, Harry raised the bid several hundred galleons, even going a couple of hundred over the budget he'd set for the house.

"We've got him, Harry," Ginny squealed quietly as the rival bidder reluctantly shook their head and bowed out of the race.

"Any more bids for this lovely family home?" the auctioneer questioned. "Going one, going twice..."

"Half a million," a feminine voice from the back of the room suddenly called.

The entire room gasped at the bid as it was over a hundred thousand more than the current bid. Ginny's mouth fell open in shock at the bid and Harry immediately swivelled around to see who had outbid him at the last moment. For a moment he couldn't make out who the mystery bidder was, but then he got his eyes on a raised panel and when his eyes trailed downwards he gasped out loud to see Hermione Granger.

"Hermione," he whispered to himself as the auctioneer once again began the final countdown on the bidding.

"Bid again, Harry," Ginny urged. She'd also seen Hermione, but her house was her main priority and she wasn't going to let anyone steal it from under their noses.

However, Harry wasn't listening, his focus was on Hermione and the wizard sitting beside her. It hadn't registered at first, but now he could see that Hermione was sitting with Lucius Malfoy. As the hammer slammed down on the auction, and Hermione ended up with the winning bid, Harry watched as Lucius shot him a devious smirk before embracing Hermione. As he did so he whispered something in her ear, and whatever he said it made Hermione smile and shake her head lightly.

Still entranced by the sight of his old friend, Harry was oblivious to Ginny all but crying beside him. He was also oblivious to the dark mutterings she was aiming in Hermione's direction. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Hermione, and he watched as she rose to her feet with a hand from Lucius. Standing up, Harry could see that Hermione was visibly pregnant and he watched with an open mouth as Lucius put a hand on her back and guided her out of the auction room.

"I don't believe it," Ginny hissed as Harry finally turned his attention back to his wife. "How could you let that happen?"

"Let it happen?" Harry questioned in bewilderment. "I didn't let anything happen, Ginny. We were outbid. It's as simple as that."

"We could have topped her," Ginny argued.

"Only by a small margin," Harry countered. "And did you see who she had with her?"

"Lucius Malfoy," Ginny replied with a shrug. "So, what?"

"So, the Malfoys are still the richest family in our world. I wouldn't have stood a chance against Lucius," Harry argued.

"But you weren't up against Lucius," Ginny countered. "Hermione made the bid."

"Hermione may have made the bid, but it was Lucius pulling the strings," Harry snorted. "Did you miss the look he gave me when Hermione won? It was pure triumph. He was the one who bought the house, Ginny. Mark my words."

"Why would Hermione be buying a house for Lucius?" Ginny questioned in confusion as she and Harry made their way out of the auction room.

"I don't know," Harry answered with a shrug.

The truth was he knew nothing about his former friends' life as he hadn't spoken to or seen her in over a decade. Following a brief, but disastrous, relationship with Ron, Hermione had gone on holiday and had never returned. She had sent a letter saying she'd met someone and was giving their relationship a chance, so it wasn't as if she'd just vanished off the face of the earth. In fact, she'd even asked Harry if he'd wanted to go and visit her. However, Ginny hadn't liked the idea of him going off to be with Hermione while she was still at Hogwarts, so he'd declined the offer. He had planned on rearranging once Ginny had left Hogwarts, but Ginny had never been keen, so it had never happened. Contact with Hermione had then dwindled and within a year of her leaving it was as though she'd never been part of their lives. Until now, when she'd shown up and snatched the house of their dreams from right under the Potters noses.

"Let's go home," Harry said to Ginny.

Feeling rather deflated the Potters headed for home. Or rather they headed to The Burrow, where Molly and Arthur had been babysitting the boys. However, when they arrived at the Weasleys family home they found all the family present and were greeted by loud cries of congratulations. Clearly the family had been expecting them to return with good news.

"What's wrong?" Molly asked in concern when she noticed her daughter was on the cusp of tears.

"We didn't get the house," Harry explained.

"That sucks," Ron remarked, giving Harry a sympathetic clap on the shoulder. "What happened?"

"We were outbid at the last minute," Ginny replied. "We were seconds away from owning our dream home, and Hermione came and snatched it from under our noses."

"Hermione?" Ron queried, his face lighting up at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. It may have been over a decade since their break-up, and Ron had hardly been a monk in that time, but he'd never met anyone else quite like Hermione and he still held a torch for his feisty ex.

"Hermione bought the house you were after?" Arthur checked.

"She did," Harry confirmed with a nod. "This bid came from nowhere, and when I turned around, there she was. Sitting with Lucius Malfoy."

"Lucius Malfoy?" Ron exploded. "What the hell was she doing with that bastard?"

"Looking pretty cosy," Ginny replied. "Oh, and she was pregnant."

"Pregnant," Ron repeated quietly, slumping slightly at the news Hermione was going to become a mother.

"She was huge," Ginny elaborated. "And not at all attractive. Pregnancy does not suit her."

Harry didn't comment, but he thought the exact opposite of his wife. In his opinion Hermione had always been pretty, but when he'd seen her today she'd been downright beautiful. And as for pregnancy not suiting her, Harry had thought she was positively glowing.

"I wonder why Hermione was with Lucius Malfoy," Arthur mused.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ginny snorted. "She's clearly his lover. I bet it's his little sprog she's carrying."

"And what, they were buying a love nest?" George snorted.

"A lot of purebloods set their mistresses up in homes," Arthur remarked.

"Yeah, just last month we were investigating a mugging case and when we visited one of the victims at home for some follow up questions we found out she was living in a penthouse bought by Theo Nott," Ron said. "I bet Parkinson doesn't know her husband has a mistress."

"It's one thing doing it in secret, but this was very public," Harry countered. He didn't quite believe that Hermione was Lucius's lover and they'd just bought themselves a very expensive love nest. "Anyone could have seen them."

"Maybe Lucius has left Narcissa," Ginny mused. "He got Hermione pregnant, so he left his wife for a new family."

"I only saw Narcissa in Diagon Alley last week, and she certainly didn't look like a woman whose husband had left her," Molly remarked. "She was her usual snooty self."

"Besides, something like that would be in the papers," Percy pointed out.

"Lucius would have the pull to stop any major gossip," Arthur remarked.

"Even with his pull, he can't stop everything," Percy argued. "If he'd left Narcissa, rumours would be swirling."

"Rumours are certainly going to be swirling now," Ginny said. "We weren't the only people at that auction. Plenty of people saw Lucius and a very pregnant Hermione buying a house together and then canoodling afterwards."

"They were canoodling?" Molly gasped, her eyes glistening at the prospect of juicy gossip.

"They hugged," Harry clarified.

"Please, his hands were all over her as they left," Ginny snorted. "They're sleeping together. You can always tell."

"Does it really matter?" George questioned. "The point is, you don't have the house. So, what are you going to do now?"

"Look for somewhere else," Ginny replied with a sigh.

"In the meantime, we could always redecorate," Harry suggested, eager to find a way to keep his wife sweet.

"The entire house?" Ginny asked eagerly.

"The entire house," Harry clarified. "We can use some of the money we were going to use for the new house, and we can redo our house in the meantime."

"Thank you, Harry, this is going to be great," Ginny squealed, launching herself at her husband.

Hugging Ginny tightly, Harry hoped a redecoration was enough to help ease his wife's disappointment of losing the house. As for him, he was wondering if now was the time to get back in touch with Hermione. He would love to know the true reason why she was buying a house with Lucius Malfoy, as Harry just couldn't believe that she was the sort of witch to have an affair with a married man and end up pregnant with his child. Although the only way to find out was to get in touch with her, and that was something Harry was planning on doing as soon as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - This chapter is the same day as the first, only it's from Hermione's point of view.**

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Hermione Granger awoke to the feeling of her husband peppering the back of her neck and shoulders with light kisses. She knew the second he became aware she was awake as she felt his lips turn up into a smirk while they were pressed against her shoulder blade. Carefully manoeuvring her pregnant body, she turned around, so she was facing her husband.

"Morning," she greeted.

"Morning," her husband, Draco Malfoy, replied.

"I think we should spend the day in bed," Hermione suggested.

"As tempting as that sounds, I'm still nowhere near sorted at work, and you've got a house to buy," Draco replied. With their return to England, Draco was currently in the middle of relocating his business headquarters to London and he was snowed under with work.

"Are you sure you just not repulsed by how fat I am?" Hermione questioned with a fake pout. She wasn't quite six months pregnant, but she was carrying twins and she was already fairly large.

"I would never be repulsed by you," Draco replied seriously. "And certainly not when you're carrying our two little miracles."

The twins Hermione were carrying were very much miracles for the Malfoys, and realistically it was the only chance of the couple would ever have of becoming parents. Over the previous six and a half years, Hermione had suffered from three miscarriages, each one more devastating than the one before. After the third miscarriage the healers had informed Hermione that the chances of her ever getting pregnant again were slim, and even if it did happen, there wasn't a good chance of her carrying the baby to full term. It had been devastating news, but the couple had been forced to accept that being parents just wasn't something that was going to happen for them.

The news had also broken the hearts of Draco's parents, but never one to give up, Lucius had set out to find an answer. In the end he'd found a private healer with a remarkable reputation in the fertility field. Hermione had initially been wary about a consultation with the healer, as she knew she wouldn't have been able to deal with a fourth tragic loss, but she'd agreed to one meeting and she was so thrilled she had. The healer had been honest with the couple and said there were no guarantees, but he'd been confident his techniques would result in a viable pregnancy for Hermione. And he was right to be confident as the couple had only needed one round of treatment before Hermione fell pregnant with twins.

Ending up pregnant with twins was a result of the magical aid in the pregnancy, and there was a higher chance that one, or possibly even both babies, would be born without magic, but neither Hermione or Draco cared about that. They would love their children, with or without magic. It was a miracle they were even going to have children, so neither of them were going to be concerned over whether the twins had magic. All they wanted was two healthy, happy children, and they even had a date for that to happen as it was too dangerous for Hermione to reach the end of her pregnancy and go into labour naturally. Instead labour would be induced and monitored closely and in a little over two months, Draco and Hermione would become parents.

"If you're tired, father could handle the auction himself," Draco remarked as the couple tore themselves away from each other and he helped his wife out of bed.

"I can handle the auction," Hermione protested. "I don't even need Lucius to come with me. I'm a big girl. I can buy a house on my own."

"Under normal circumstances you could do this alone," Draco agreed. He knew his wife was more than capable of anything she set her mind to and she was by no means the sort of witch that needed her hand holding. "But you know the golden rule, you're never alone."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue with the golden rule. Because she'd had so many miscarriages no-one wanted to take any risks with her current pregnancy, including Hermione herself. The entire family always had their healers contact details with them, and Hermione was very rarely left alone in case anything happened to her and she was unable to get help. It was a rather stifling way to live, and Hermione was looking forward to getting things back to normal, but it was a small price to pay to ensure that she had a safe pregnancy and she didn't lose the children she was carrying. Besides, she knew Draco and his parents were only so protective because they loved her, and she loved them for caring so much about her.

By the time Hermione was dressed, Draco was ready to leave for work. Since the couple were currently staying at Malfoy Manor, he escorted her down to the dining room, where he said a quick goodbye to his parents, grabbed some toast and headed off for another long day trying to move his business headquarters.

"He is working too hard," Narcissa commented as her son swept out of the room and left for work.

"He just wants everything sorted before the twins arrive," Hermione said.

"And he's only going to get busier once they've bought their house," Lucius remarked.

"I still don't see why you needed to buy a house," Narcissa muttered with a slight frown. "I liked your original plan to build somewhere."

When Hermione and Draco had first moved back to England, just prior to undergoing their fertility treatment, their original plan had been to buy some land and build the house of their dreams. In fact, they were so sure of the plan that finding land and designing their dream house had been their priority, which was why Draco was only now getting around to moving his business headquarters to Britain. But then Hermione had spotted the perfect house just a few miles away from the manor, and she'd set her heart on it. It was as though someone had known exactly what her dream house would look like and had built it especially for her and Draco. Now all she had to do was make sure they walked away with it at the auction.

"We haven't bought the house yet," Hermione said cautiously. "We might not get it."

"Of course, you will," Lucius reassured her with confidence. "You're a Malfoy, and Malfoys always get what we want."

"It's still going to be so sad to see you leave," Narcissa sighed. "I was looking forward to having the children here."

"I'm sure they'll spend loads of time here," Hermione assured her mother-in-law. "Draco's already planning on you having the twins at least once a week, so we can have some time on our own."

"Time on your own is very important," Lucius agreed with a nod. "There's nothing like a bawling child to spoil the moment. Draco was a master of it. I can't tell you how many times he's interrupted us having some quality alone time. I swear, that's why he doesn't have siblings. He never allowed us to have sex."

"We had plenty of sex," Narcissa argued.

"What do you mean, had?" Lucius questioned with a frown. "We still have sex. Only last night we made use of the power jets in the new jacuzzi."

"And that is too much information," Hermione remarked with a slight grimace.

She loved Lucius and Narcissa and had in fact being blown away by how different they were in private, but they did tend to over-share. Lucius especially wasn't shy about talking about their sex life, which unless he was lying was still hot and heavy.

"Good luck with the house," Narcissa said with a chuckle as her daughter-in-law got to her feet, eager to be off.

"It's already theirs," Lucius said confidently.

Hermione didn't quite feel Lucius's confidence as they headed off to the auction. However, she was determined that if someone else did buy the house they were going to have to pay well over the odds for it. Money wasn't really an issue for the Malfoys, and Draco had already told her to spend whatever she needed to secure their dream home.

"Shall we have a look around before the auction?" Lucius asked. "We've got time and there's a couple of other items that have caught my eye."

Those items were a stunning emerald necklace, which Lucius bought for Narcissa's upcoming birthday, and a small cottage in the Lake District.

"What's the cottage for?" Hermione asked as they headed for the main auction room, where the house would be up for grabs. "I don't really see you as the cottage sort, Lucius."

"I'm not," Lucius confessed. "The place is nice, but it's nowhere near big enough for me."

"Then why did you buy it?" Hermione questioned.

"I happen to have a lovely daughter-in-law whose just about to give me the most wonderful gift of grandchildren. And I just so happen to know her favourite place in the country is the Lake District," Lucius replied with a slight smirk. "I was thinking I would give it to her as a present."

"Lucius, you are amazing," Hermione gushed, giving her father-in-law a peck on the cheek and a hug. "I love you."

"The feelings mutual," Lucius replied softly.

Hermione smiled at the fact Lucius didn't say the words 'I love you'. She'd learnt over the years that like Draco his feelings ran deep, but it was very rare he expressed them with words. He showed his love in dozens of different ways, and there wasn't a day that went by that Hermione didn't know how much she was loved as part of the Malfoy family.

Entering the auction room, the pair took a seat towards the back of the room and while the first couple of properties were up for grabs, Hermione examined the crowds. Among the first people she spotted were Dean and Seamus, and although they hadn't seen each other for years when Dean spotted her he flashed her a warm smile. Smiling back, Hermione vowed to try and catch the pair after the auction to say hello, but then her attention was well and truly captured by the sight of Harry and Ginny sitting near the front of the room.

"What is it?" Lucius asked, noting the way Hermione had tensed up.

"Harry," Hermione said, nodding to where her old friend was sitting with his wife.

Even though it had been Hermione who had left the country, it felt as though it had been Harry who had ended their friendship. Hermione hadn't meant to move when she'd gone on holiday, but after meeting Draco by chance a romance had developed. By rights it should have just been a holiday fling, but after almost three weeks of being together, Hermione had been well and truly in love and when Draco had asked her to stay, she'd decided to act impulsively and take a chance on love. Of course, she'd let Harry know of her decision to stay, and she'd even invited him to visit her, so she could explain about her new romance in person. However, he declined her offer, claiming that he and Ginny would visit as soon as they could, but it never happened. To be fair, Hermione knew she could have reached out to Harry a bit more, or even visited him the one time she'd returned home to sort her things, but she'd sent numerous invitations to her friend and he'd never once taken her up on one. Hermione took it to mean he wasn't interested in keeping their friendship alive and slowly all contact had stopped between the pair.

Before Hermione could fall into total melancholy at her lost friendship, the house she wanted came up for auction and Lucius snapped her back into focus. Following Lucius's advice, she remained quiet in the early stages as she got a look at her competition. Unfortunately, Harry was part of that competition and Hermione could tell he was serious when he kept upping the bids to get rid of the rest of the bidders.

"It's time to bid," Lucius advised her as more and more people dropped out of the process.

"But I'd be bidding against Harry," Hermione muttered, not quite able to bring herself to raise her panel and place a bid against her old friend.

"Sod Potter," Lucius hissed. "This is the house of your dreams, Hermione. If you lose this, you're stuck at the manor for months, maybe even years. I thought you wanted your own place before the twins arrived."

"I do," Hermione confirmed.

"Then for Merlin's sake place a bloody bid before you lose the house," Lucius ordered as the auctioneer began his final countdown on Harry's current bid. "Do it, Hermione," he urged as his daughter-in-law continued to hesitate. "Do it, or I will, and I won't sell it back to you."

Knowing full well her father-in-law was serious and would buy the house just to stop Harry getting his hands on it, Hermione raised her panel in the air and upped the bid to half a million galleons. The price was a huge leap and gasps of shock could be heard around the room as almost everyone turned to stare at the new bidder.

"That's my girl," Lucius whispered in her ear. "A Malfoy always gets what they want."

Hermione smiled slightly and shook her head at Lucius, but her heart was in her mouth as the auctioneer started the countdown on her bid. For a moment, Hermione expected Harry to counteract her bid, but she could see he was just gazing at her in surprise as the auctioneer slammed down the gavel and the house went to her.

"I did it," Hermione cried in glee when she realised the house of her dreams was now a reality.

"Yes, you did," Lucius replied as he threw a smirk in Harry's direction before embracing Hermione and congratulating her on getting the house of her dreams. "Let's go and sort the paperwork," he said as he helped his daughter-in-law to her feet.

"I can't believe the house is ours," Hermione said as Lucius guided her out of the room, keeping a close eye on her in case she got overexcited.

By the time the paperwork was done the Potters had gone, although Hermione didn't know whether to be disappointed or pleased. Part of her felt as though she should have spoken to Harry, but another part of her thought that maybe it was best to leave the past behind her. However, she did manage to grab a quick word with Dean and Seamus, who were in high spirits after they themselves had bought the property they wanted for their business expansion.

"Come and visit us some time," Dean said. "We'd love to see you."

"You're inviting a pregnant woman to a bar?" Hermione laughed.

"We serve non-alcoholic drinks as well," Seamus chuckled. "And food. Come and have dinner one time with your husband."

"We will," Hermione vowed. "Thanks."

"Congrats on the baby, and tell Malfoy we said congratulations," Dean said. "Who would have thought you would wind up a Malfoy?"

"Certainly not me," Hermione replied with a laugh. "But I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I should hope not," Lucius remarked, from where he was standing just a little way back from Hermione and her friends. "Now come on, we should get you home. You've had enough excitement for the day."

"Yes Dad," Hermione muttered with a good-natured roll of her eyes.

Leaving a chuckling Dean and Seamus behind, Hermione headed home with Lucius. Now she'd bought the house it was time to think about decorating it. She would have to move quickly if she wanted to be settled before the twins arrived. But Hermione knew she had a solid helper in Lucius, and she knew her father-in-law would do virtually anything she wanted to help her, and Draco settle in their new home before they welcomed the newest members of the family into the world.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione was rather surprised when the day after the auction she received an owl from Harry, asking her if she wanted to meet up. Given the fact she regretted not being able to speak to Harry at the auction, Hermione jumped at the idea of meeting up with her old friend. Owls were exchanged, and a meeting was arranged for a few days later.

On the same day she was meeting Harry, Hermione had arranged to go shopping with Narcissa. The plan was to spend the morning shopping for the new house and then Hermione would meet Harry for a drink, while Narcissa gave them some privacy. Or at least that was the plan, until the morning in question when Narcissa received a message informing her that one of her oldest friends had been taken ill and had been rushed into St Mungo's.

"Go and see her," Hermione urged her mother-in-law.

"But we have plans," Narcissa protested.

"Nothing that can't wait," Hermione countered. "Go and see your friend, Narcissa."

"But today was your meeting with Harry," Narcissa argued. "And you've been really looking forward to it."

"I'm sure he'll understand when I tell him I need to rearrange," Hermione said. She would have suggested cancelling the shopping trip and still going to see Harry on her own, but she knew that would only lead to further arguments from Narcissa. "Seriously Narcissa, you need to go and see your friend. Shopping and Harry can wait."

"You're an angel, Hermione," Narcissa said, embracing her daughter-in-law and enveloping her in a cloud of expensive perfume.

Hurrying out of the room to go and get ready, Narcissa almost ran into her husband. Quickly apologising she continued her way, leaving Lucius to wonder what his wife was rushing around for.

"Where's Narcissa going in such a hurry?" Lucius asked his daughter-in-law as he entered the breakfast room, which offered the family spectacular views of the manor grounds.

"Her friend has been rushed into hospital, she's going to go and see her," Hermione replied.

"Today?" Lucius questioned in surprise. "I thought the pair of you had plans."

"We did, but this is more important," Hermione said with a shrug. "We can go shopping anytime."

"And Potter?" Lucius asked. "Weren't you meeting him today?"

"I was, but we can rearrange," Hermione said as she hauled herself to her feet. "I need to go and send him an owl."

"I could always accompany you," Lucius offered.

"To meet Harry?" Hermione queried.

"I can be unobtrusive," Lucius said. "You're meeting in a café, aren't you? I can have a drink nearby. That way I'm on hand if you need me, but I'm not crowding you."

"That would be amazing Lucius, thank you," Hermione said happily as she sat back down.

"We could even go shopping first," Lucius suggested.

"You want to go shopping?" Hermione laughed. "When I mentioned shopping to Draco he instantly found a reason to leave for work earlier than normal."

"I've been married to Narcissa for over thirty years, I think I can handle a bit of shopping," Lucius chuckled. "Just let me have a hearty breakfast."

One hearty breakfast later, Lucius was ready to accompany his daughter-in-law for a morning's shopping. Although he expected to just be heading to Diagon Alley, but Hermione had other plans and instead took Lucius to a brand-new wizarding superstore. The superstore was several stories tall, and the ground floor was a check-in point where customers registered with the store.

"Does this work like the auction?" Lucius asked as Hermione gave her details and registered her wand with one of the friendly witches who worked on the ground floor.

"It does," Hermione confirmed with a nod as the witch she was dealing with handed her a shopping wand and directed them to the elevators.

"And what's with the wand they gave you?" Lucius asked as they consulted the floor plan pinned beside the elevators.

"Anything I want to buy, I scan with the wand and it registers on their databases," Hermione explained. "Before we leave, I check over the shopping list and confirm it's correct. They then take payment from our bank account and home deliver the items on a date that suits us."

"Convenient," Lucius remarked with an impressed nod. "It's better than carrying dozens of bags. Even using magic to condense them all is awkward. Maybe I should bring Narcissa here to do her shopping."

Sorting out which floors they wanted to visit, Hermione and Lucius got into the elevator and headed to their first destination. Even though Hermione and Draco had furniture from their old house, their new house was a lot bigger and they had several more rooms to furnish. Not to mention the fact Hermione wanted some new furniture and fittings even for the rooms they had sorted.

After purchasing items for the kitchen, living room, library and some general knick-knacks, the pair arrived on the floor that catered for the bedroom and bathroom. Furniture wise the bedroom was sorted, and they were going to hire a professional firm to fit a new en-suite bathroom, but Hermione wanted new bits and pieces for the bedrooms and bathrooms.

"What colour should I do the spare room?" she mused, torn between a pair of deep red curtains and a plum pair.

"Not red," Lucius said, glancing at the curtains Hermione was looking at. "I won't sleep in a red room."

"Who says you'll be staying in our spare room?" Hermione questioned.

"Narcissa and I are bound to stay over at some point," Lucius remarked with a dismissive wave of his hand as he wandered off to look at some ornate storage chests.

Picking the plum curtains, Hermione bought a few more bits and pieces before she and Lucius wandered into the section of the store that contained the beds and bedding. Lucius immediately started testing the beds, while Hermione examined the bedding, placing a couple of sets on her shopping list.

"This is a nice bed," Lucius called to Hermione from where he was sitting on the end of a king-sized four poster bed.

"We don't need a new bed, Lucius," Hermione returned without even turning to look at her father-in-law.

"It's not about needing a bed, it's about grabbing an opportunity when it presents itself," Lucius retorted. "And this bed is perfect. The mattress is just right, not too soft and not too hard. And of course, it's large enough to deal with some vigorous night-time activity."

"I might have known it would come down to sex," Hermione tutted, glancing back over her shoulder at her smirking father-in-law.

"I can't help it if I've got a strong sex-drive," Lucius returned with a saucy wink.

"I am not buying a bed, Lucius," Hermione said with a shake of her head.

"What about a bed for the spare room?" Lucius asked.

"No beds," Hermione insisted. "I'm done here, let's head to the children's floor. I've got a nursery to kit out."

"I still say you'll regret not getting a new bed," Lucius remarked as he got to his feet. "Don't you want to enjoy breaking in a new bed?"

"I don't need a new bed, we can just christen the old one when we move," Hermione replied with an amused smirk.

Chuckling his agreement, Lucius slid his arm through Hermione's as they headed for the elevators to head to the floor where the children's furniture was located. However, what neither of them noticed as they passed the wardrobe section were the figures of Ginny and Molly. And what they couldn't know was that the two witches had heard their conversation and were using what they had heard as confirmation that the pair were having a sordid affair and Hermione was being set up as Lucius's mistress.

* * *

Harry had arranged to meet Hermione without telling Ginny, although he fully intended to tell his wife after the event. And by then he hoped to have some answers regarding Hermione's relationship with Lucius. Because truth be told, Harry was totally confused by what was going on with his old friend, and he was confused even further when Hermione entered the café where he was due to meet her with Lucius in tow. Harry watched in bewilderment as Hermione gave Lucius a kiss on the cheek and shooed him in a nearby booth, before she approached him.

"Hello, Harry," Hermione greeted with a warm smile.

"Hello, Hermione," Harry returned, returning the smile and getting up to hug his old friend. "Can I get you a drink?"

"A cup of tea would be lovely," Hermione replied as she settled her large frame into a chair.

"And your friend?" Harry asked warily, glancing towards Lucius, who was obviously watching their meeting with interest.

"Lucius can fend for himself," Hermione said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Her father-in-law was far from useless, and he was more than capable of ordering himself a hot drink. "And if it's not too cheeky, could I have a piece of cake as well. I can't get enough chocolate at the moment."

"One piece of chocolate cake coming up," Harry said as he headed off to place the order.

All the time he was at the counter being served, he kept glancing backwards and wondering how he was going to ask the awkward questions he wanted answers to while Lucius was hovering nearby. He'd been dreading asking Hermione about Lucius as it was, but it would be ten times more awkward now the wizard himself was in obvious ear-shot.

Deciding just to go with the flow, Harry gathered and paid for their order and made his way back to the table where Hermione was waiting for him. Settling himself down opposite his old friend, he ignored Lucius as he got up and went to order his own drink.

"I'm sorry," Harry began, not sure how else to ignite the conversation with the witch he hadn't spoken to in years.

"What for?" Hermione asked.

"Not coming to visit you," Harry replied. "I should have, I know. But life just sort of got in the way."

"I can understand that," Hermione said with a low chuckle, her hand resting on her protruding stomach. "But it works both ways, Harry. I could have made more of an effort to visit you. I guess we both made mistakes."

"We did," Harry agreed. "But we can fix things now. I'm assuming since you were buying a house, you're moving back home."

"I am," Hermione replied with a nod. "And I'm sorry about the house. When I saw you bidding on it, I almost didn't bid myself, but I'd really set my heart on it. Plus, I had Lucius urging me on. I swear that man is a bad influence."

"He's certainly watchful," Harry muttered, glancing back over to where Lucius was now settled back in his seat with a cup of tea and a toasted pumpkin teacake.

"He's just protective," Hermione said with a fond smile.

"I wouldn't have thought you needed protecting," Harry remarked. The girl he'd known had been more than capable of looking after herself, and she certainly wouldn't have needed the likes of Lucius Malfoy protecting her.

"It's a long story, but basically he's protective because of the pregnancy," Hermione explained. "I've lost babies in the past, and this is pretty much my only chance to become a mother. And even that wouldn't have happened if Lucius hadn't been so determined. I was trying to accept that children just weren't going to be part of our lives, but Lucius wouldn't have that. He found a healer that could help, and voila, I'm now expecting twins."

"You're having twins?" Harry gasped, trying to take in everything Hermione had told him.

"Yeah, two little balls of trouble," Hermione replied with a smile.

"How do you know they'll be trouble?" Harry asked, unable to stop himself from smiling along with Hermione. Her happiness was infectious, and he could see that she was happier than he'd ever seen her before.

"These children are half Granger, half Malfoy, what else can they be but trouble?" Hermione laughed. "But trouble or not, they're my little miracles and I can't wait to meet them."

"There's nothing like meeting your child for the first time," Harry said with a smile.

"You're a father," Hermione said in delight. "Tell me everything, Harry."

Even though he still hadn't asked Hermione the most important question, which was why she was involved with a married man, Harry found himself swept up in talking about his own life. For an hour he and Hermione talked, both about his family and old times. It was only when Lucius pointedly cleared his throat and Hermione announced it was time for her to be leaving that Harry realised he still didn't know that much about her life.

"I hope this isn't goodbye," he said.

"Of course not," Hermione replied with a warm smile. "I'm hoping this is the beginning of a new chapter, Harry. I'm hoping that we can one day be as close as we once were."

"I would like that," Harry remarked.

"At the auction the other day I was talking to Dean and Seamus and they invited us to visit their bar," Hermione said. "Maybe you, Ginny and Ron could join us."

"I'd like that," Harry said, glancing warily at Lucius. Try as he might, he just couldn't imagine sharing a drink with the older wizard and acting as though it was normal that he was sleeping with a witch young enough to be his daughter behind his wife's back, and that he'd impregnated her.

"Why don't you arrange something, and send me an owl," Hermione suggested. Even though Harry hadn't said as much she was suspecting that his wife knew nothing of their meeting, so she felt it was only right to let him get things sorted with Ginny.

"I will," Harry vowed, wondering if he had the nerve to ask Hermione about Lucius before they went their separate ways. "Hermione," he began, but paused when Lucius moved to her side, obviously ready to leave.

"Harry?" Hermione questioned, looking at her old friend expectantly.

"Nothing," Harry said, chickening out of asking such a personal question when Lucius was right there. "I'll sort something out and send you an owl."

"I'll look forward to it," Hermione said, and giving Harry a peck on the cheek, she took hold of Lucius's arm and the pair left the café together.

Harry watched them go, wishing he had some more answers about their relationship, and how it had come about. But it looked like the questions would have to wait until next time they met up, and maybe then he could get her far enough away from Lucius to be able to ask the questions he hadn't been comfortable asking in the older wizard's presence.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry hadn't been sure how to approach the subject of Hermione with his wife following their meeting, but as it turned out he needn't have worried for when he arrived at The Burrow, he found his former friend was already the topic of discussion. It turned out Ginny and Molly had seen her and Lucius while they were out shopping, and they were filling Arthur and Ron in on what they had seen and heard.

"It was disgraceful," Molly tutted in disdain. "There they were in public, talking about buying new beds and breaking them in. It's so disrespectful towards his wife."

"I thought you didn't like Narcissa Malfoy," Ron remarked. "Haven't you always said she's a stuck-up snob?"

"Yes, but even she doesn't deserve to be treated in such a shoddy way," Molly argued. "It's bad enough these so-called high society pure-blood wizards have mistresses, but at least most of them seem to be subtle about it. Lucius was downright flaunting Hermione."

"It really wasn't very subtle," Ginny agreed.

"I really did expect more from Hermione," Arthur said with a disappointed sigh. "I thought she was better than becoming a kept mistress for a rich wizard."

"And not just any rich wizard," Ron added. "One who is old enough to be her father. Not to mention the father of the boy we all hated in school. Hey, I wonder how Malfoy feels about his father shagging someone his age."

"Would he even know?" Arthur questioned.

"The way Lucius and Hermione are carrying on, the whole country is going to know before long," Molly snorted.

"Disgraceful," Arthur muttered with a sad shake of his head. He'd never agreed with the practice of taking a mistress, but he was even more disappointed that someone who had been as lovely as Hermione had gotten caught up in such depravity.

"I also saw Hermione," Harry ventured, deciding that now was as good a time as any to broach the subject of meeting up with their old friend.

"Today?" Ginny queried with a frown.

"Yes, we met for a drink," Harry confessed.

"That was your prior engagement?" Ron asked. "Are you telling me I babysat for you, so you could go out and meet Hermione?"

"You'd already agreed to look after the boys," Harry argued. "And actually, I spent most of the day in the office, catching up on paperwork. I just took a couple of hours off to go and meet Hermione."

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Because she's my friend, and I regret the way we lost touch," Harry replied. "And after we saw her at the auction, it seemed petty to ignore the fact she's back in the country."

"So, what did she have to say about Lucius?" Ron asked, eager to hear what his ex-girlfriend had to say for herself.

"I didn't ask her about him," Harry confessed with a slight wince.

"Harry," Ginny scolded, hitting her husband on the arm. "How could you not have asked such a basic question?"

"Because he was there," Harry explained.

"Hold on, so now you're telling us you had a drink with Hermione and her middle-aged lover?" Ron queried.

"Not exactly," Harry replied. "Lucius was sitting at a separate table, but I was fairly sure he could hear everything Hermione and I said. And with him listening, I didn't feel comfortable asking Hermione how she'd managed to get involved with a married man."

"Even so, she must have given you some sort of indication as to what her life was like," Ginny said. "Or did you just tell her everything about your life and fail to get any information about hers."

"I know that she's happy," Harry supplied. "You know when someone is so completely content with their life, that they just exude happiness and contentment. Well, that was what she was like."

"Like us," Ginny said, smiling up at her husband.

Harry nodded his agreement, even though he wouldn't really describe them as truly content. Even though they were very happy together, Ginny was the sort of witch who always wanted more. The house, which had now turned into a complete decorating job, was a perfect example of his wife never being happy with what they had. No doubt that sooner or later the house issue would come up again, and even though they hadn't long welcomed their second son into the world, Harry was waiting for the day Ginny announced she wanted another baby, preferably a little girl. And how could Harry possibly be content when he was constantly wondering what his wife would next want out of life?

"Is that all you found out?" Ron asked. "That's she's happy?"

"I know she's expecting twins, and the pregnancy was planned," Harry said.

"Planned?" Molly questioned in bewilderment. "I assumed it was an accident. Most wizards don't deliberately get their mistresses pregnant. If anything, they try and avoid it."

"Hermione said she'd lost babies before and she'd given up hope of becoming a mother, but Lucius was determined it was going to happen," Harry explained. "She didn't go into all the details, but I know they used magic to assist with the pregnancy and Lucius is very protective of her. That's why he was with her, he doesn't want her to be alone."

"If he wasn't already married, I would praise him for being so concerned with Hermione's well-being," Arthur muttered.

"I still can't believe you didn't get more details," Ginny tutted at her husband.

"We did agree to meet up again," Harry said. "She said she'd spoken to Dean and Seamus at the auction and they invited her to go and visit their bar. She suggested that we all go together and have a proper catch-up."

"Who do you mean by all?" Ron asked warily. "Are you including Lucius Malfoy in this?"

"I'm assuming so," Harry replied with a shrug.

"You can count me out," Ron snorted. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I have a drink with a Malfoy."

"Come on Ron, don't you want all the dirt?" Ginny coaxed. "Don't you want to find out how Hermione ended up the pampered mistress of a wizard who once considered her the lowest of the low."

"I don't want any trouble," Harry warned his wife and brother-in-law as Ron reluctantly agreed that he did quite want some answers. "I want to get my friendship with Hermione back on track, and I don't want either of you upsetting her."

"You're not saying you approve of the situation she's in, do you?" Molly checked, hoping her son-in-law's morals weren't going to be corrupted by his former friend.

"No, I can't say I do approve of her being involved with Lucius," Harry admitted. "But no matter what she's still my friend, and I still want us to re-establish our friendship. So, all I'm asking is for the pair of you to be nice and not upset Hermione."

"We can play nice," Ginny assured her husband. "But even if he is there, we will be asking her about her relationship. It's not like we can just ignore it, Harry."

"I guess not," Harry agreed. "Just be careful about it. I swear, I will never forgive either of you if you upset Hermione so much that she severs all contact. If I lose my friend again, I won't be at all impressed."

Hoping that Ron and Ginny heeded his warning, and that the headstrong pair didn't do anything to cause trouble with Hermione, Harry turned his attention to his two children. For the moment, Hermione was forgotten, but it was a high priority for him to make arrangements for them all to have a drink together.

* * *

Already settled in bed, Hermione put her book down as her husband emerged from the bathroom. As Draco got into bed beside her, Hermione noticed how tired he was looking. With moving his business to the UK he was working long hours, and Hermione couldn't wait for the day he was all sorted and things started to return to some semblance of normality.

"You look tired," she remarked, lifting Draco's arm over her shoulders and snuggling down beside him.

"I am, but I'm nearly done," Draco replied. "This time next week, I should be able to get back to a normal schedule."

"That will be good," Hermione said. "I'd like to see a bit more of you."

"The feeling is very mutual," Draco said, dropping a kiss to the top of his wife's head. "I feel like just lately you've seen more of father than you have of me."

"I know, anyone would think we were the couple," Hermione laughed. "First we went to the auction together, and then today we went shopping and met Harry for a drink."

"Speaking of Potter, how did it go?" Draco asked. "He didn't upset you, did he? He didn't give you any grief over grabbing the house from under his nose, did he?"

"No, Harry didn't upset me, nor did he give me any grief over the house," Hermione confirmed. "In fact, it was really lovely seeing him again. He wants to try and get our friendship back on track."

"And do you want that?"

"I do. Which is why I suggested we should all meet up for a drink. We do have that invitation to visit Dean and Seamus."

"You're including me in this all, aren't you?" Draco questioned.

"Of course I am, you're my husband and I want my friends to get to know you," Hermione said, adjusting her position so she could see Draco's face. "Stop scowling, Draco, you always knew this was a possibility. I talked about getting in touch with Harry before we even moved back."

"I know," Draco replied with a sigh. "And you're right, I need to get to know your friends if they're going to be part of your life again. But is there not going to be any problems? How did Potter react when you told him who you were married to?"

"I didn't actually tell him, but I assumed he knew and was all right with it," Hermione replied.

"Why did you assume he knew?"

"First, he never asked me who I was married to, and secondly your father was with me. Why else would he be with me? Besides, Harry's an Auror, it would have taken him two minutes to find out everything there was to know about my life, including who my husband is. Besides, if he hadn't known, all he would have had to do was ask. Dean and Seamus asked what the situation was when they saw me with Lucius. Don't worry Draco, there won't be any problems."

"You hope," Draco muttered. "Even if Potter is understanding, I can't see the Weasel being as accommodating. He was never the most open minded of people."

"Hark whose talking," Hermione chuckled. "If you and your father can change, so can Ron. We have to at least give him a chance."

"Okay, I'll give him a chance," Draco conceded. "But I'm warning you Hermione, if anyone upsets you there will be hell to pay."

"My hero," Hermione teased, reaching up and brushing her lips against Draco's.

"Don't you forget it," he whispered against her lips. "Although I might have to fight father for that position at the moment. Did you say he went shopping with you, today?"

"He did, after your mother had to cancel he stepped up and insisted that we carried on as planned," Hermione said.

"He didn't interfere, did he?" Draco checked. "I know what's he's like. He thinks he knows everything about everything, even interior design."

"He did try and persuade me to get a new bed," Hermione confessed. "And thanks to him spare room is now going to be purple. He wouldn't let me get red curtains, as he refused to sleep in a red room."

"So now he's inviting himself to spend the night in our spare room, why am I not surprised," Draco chuckled. "Although he does have a point about the red room. No self-respecting Slytherin would ever sleep in a red room."

"That is just ridiculous," Hermione snorted. "I'm proud to be former Gryffindor, yet you don't hear me complaining about sleeping in a green room."

Hermione gestured to the room they were currently using at the manor, which was decorated in green, black and silver. In fact the room was Draco's childhood bedroom.

"Hey, don't knock the room," Draco protested. "It's been this way since I was a kid."

"I can't believe you haven't decorated since you were a teenager," Hermione laughed.

"I moved out just after school," Draco argued. "But I never even decorated as a teenager, well not to change the colour. My room has been green, silver and black since I was small."

"I should have known you would have decided to be a Slytherin long before you got to Hogwarts," Hermione said with an affectionate smile.

"Honey, I'm a Malfoy," Draco chuckled. "I didn't decide to be a Slytherin, I was born a Slytherin. All Malfoys are Slytherins."

"No, I'm not having that," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "I'm fighting for at least one of the twins to be a Gryffindor."

"Slytherin, Gryffindor, or even no house at all, we'll love them," Draco said softly, his tone turning more serious.

"Are you worried about that?" Hermione asked softly, the teasing banter gone as thoughts turned to more serious matters. "There's never been any squibs in the Malfoy family before."

"I'm sure there has, and I'm sure they were blasted off the family trees and erased from all records," Draco snorted, well aware of how bigoted his family had been in the past. "But that won't happen with out two little miracles. Even if they turn out to be squibs, we'll still love them."

"It's going to be harder for you though if the worst does happen," Hermione pointed out.

"Why?" Draco questioned with a frown. "It won't stop me loving them, Hermione. They're our children, and I will go to the ends of the earth for them."

"I've never doubted that for a second," Hermione assured her husband. "But dealing with children with no magic will be different for you. You've spent your entire life surrounded by magic, whereas I spent eleven years ignorant of the fact I was a witch. When odd things happened around me, I wanted it to be magic, but I didn't know that's what it was as I couldn't control it."

"I'm not saying it'll be easy, but we can deal with it together," Draco said. "You can help me when I struggle. But then again, it might not even happen. Both twins could have magic and before we know it, we'll have two mini Slytherins on our hand."

"No, we're having at least one Gryffindor," Hermione pouted. "If both of our children are magical, one of them is going to take after me, even if I have to pick a child to brainwash."

"You would brainwash a child?" Draco laughed, well aware that Hermione would love their children no matter which house they ended up in.

"I would," Hermione replied, deadly seriously. "And if you're not careful, I'll brainwash both of them and neither of them will be Slytherins. We can start a new branch of the Malfoy family – the Gryffindor branch."

"Okay, okay, I'll let you turn one of our children into a little lion cub, but the other one is becoming a snake," Draco said with a laugh.

"Deal," Hermione chuckled as she stifled a yawn. "And now it's time for bed. Help me up so I can use the bathroom."

With Draco's help, Hermione got herself off the bed and headed into the bathroom. When she'd finished she returned to bed and settled down next to her husband. Drifting off to sleep, she began to look forward with meeting up with Harry and her other old friends, little realising that when she did, she was going to be shocked to discover just what assumptions the people who had once known her so well had made about her life.


	5. Chapter 5

The weekend before they'd arranged to have drinks with Hermione and her lover, Harry and the Weasleys celebrated Molly and Arthur's wedding anniversary by taking the couple out to dinner at an expensive Italian restaurant. All their children were at home with babysitters, and the entire family had clubbed together to afford the meal. The restaurant in question was pretty exclusive and it had taken all of Harry's influence to secure them a table.

"This place is fancy," Molly whispered as the family arrived at the restaurant and were led to a table on the second floor.

The table in question was situated next to a large glass window, which overlooked the ground floor of the fancy restaurant. As the family moved into their seats, Ginny let out a surprised gasp and nudged Harry in the ribs.

"Look down there," she said, nodding to the view they had of the ground floor of the restaurant.

At first, Harry wasn't sure what his wife wanted him to look at, but then he got his eye on a table beside the window. Sitting at the table were Lucius Malfoy and his beautiful wife, Narcissa. Draco was also at the table with a stunning blonde witch and an older couple made up the numbers.

"Two-faced bastard," Ron sneered. "Look at him playing happy families with his wife and son, while he's got a pregnant mistress hidden away."

"Who are they with?" Ginny asked. "That witch with Malfoy looks familiar."

"I think that's Daphne Greengrass," Harry said. Even though he'd gone to school with Daphne she hadn't left much of an impression on him, but he was fairly sure she was the witch sitting next to Draco.

"The other couple are the Greengrasses," Arthur supplied as he took his seat.

As the rest of the family took their seats, Harry, Ginny and Ron continued to watch the table on the floor below as Narcissa got to her feet and Lucius helped her on with her coat. However, Lucius then sat back down while Narcissa said her goodbyes and departed the restaurant.

"I don't believe it," Ginny muttered, his eyes widening in shock when no sooner had Narcissa departed the restaurant than Hermione appeared from the opposite direction.

"No, surely she's not going to join them," Ron gasped.

Down on the floor below, Hermione briefly spoke with Lucius before settling down in the chair Narcissa had just vacated. She even picked up a spoon and polished off the portion of chocolate moose Narcissa had left.

"What's going on?" Molly hissed. From where she was sitting, she couldn't see anything, and she didn't want to make a show of herself by standing up to obviously spy on a table on the floor below.

"Hermione's taken Narcissa's place at the table," Harry supplied.

"With everyone else still there?" Arthur questioned.

"Yes," Ron replied with a nod. "Oh, wait a minute Malfoy and the Greengrass girl are getting up."

With Harry, Ron and Ginny watching their every move, Draco helped Daphne on with her coat and after a brief conversation with those left at the table, they exited the restaurant together. Lucius then turned to Hermione and said something which caused her to shake her head. He then said something else with a smirk and Hermione nodded her head. A waiter was then called over and seconds later new drinks and a fresh chocolate mousse was delivered to the table.

"That is the most twisted thing I've ever seen," Ron muttered as he finally turned his attention back to the family table.

"It was pretty strange," Harry conceded.

"Since we're here to focus on Mum and Dad, can we just forget about it," George suggested. He was still struggling with the idea that Hermione was Lucius's lover, so if he could he preferred not to think about it.

"Yes, let's focus on the happy couple," Fred added. Like his twin he was finding Hermione's situation hard to believe and like George he didn't like to dwell on it.

Turning their attention back to the family, Harry, Ron and Ginny did indeed focus on the celebrations that were taking part. However, they still kept one eye on Hermione and Lucius and were aware when the couple left the restaurant arm in arm fifteen minutes later.

* * *

Hermione was thrilled when she and Harry managed to arrange an evening to meet up for a drink. And she was even more thrilled that the week before she was due to meet up with her friends, Draco announced he had finally finished transferring the business and would be able to spend more time with her. To celebrate the couple headed out for dinner with Draco's parents to Narcissa's favourite Italian restaurant. The restaurant itself was quite hard to get a table at, but as regulars the Malfoys were easily able to get a table.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were pleasantly surprised to find themselves sitting at a table next to Draco's friend, Daphne Zabini and her parents. After learning that Daphne's husband, who also happened to be Draco's best friend, Blaise, had been called away on emergency business and couldn't make dinner, Draco suggested that they joined forces and dined together. It only took the staff a couple of minutes to combine the two tables and then it was as though the group had intended to dine together all along.

"How's the pregnancy going?" Daphne asked Hermione once they'd ordered their meals.

"Tiring," Hermione admitted. "It's actually quite hard work trying to stay relaxed and not to overexert myself. And of course, I'm dying for some privacy," she added in a whisper.

"I don't think I could cope with Blaise hovering over me all the time," Daphne chuckled. "Although at the minute, the chance would be a fine thing. He's been dealing with some sort of crisis with the new hotel for weeks I feel like we're just ships that pass in the night at the moment."

"I get that," Hermione said with a nod. "Draco's being snowed under trying to move the business to London. I've hardly seen him these last few weeks."

"So whose been acting as your shadow?" Daphne asked.

"Mainly Lucius," Hermione answered.

"I guess there are worse shadows to have," Daphne remarked. "At least you're never going to be bored in Lucius's presence."

"No, he's certainly not boring," Hermione laughed.

"What's so funny?" Draco asked, glancing over at his wife and friend.

"Nothing, we're just planning a jailbreak for Hermione," Daphne said. "Astoria has a pass for a luxury spa which she's giving to me in a couple of weeks' time, I was just about to ask Hermione if she wanted to accompany me as my guest."

"That sounds amazing," Hermione said. "I could do with some relaxation before we have the twins."

"That's sorted then," Daphne said with a grin. "We'll have a proper girly weekend."

"I'll look forward to it," Hermione returned. "You don't have any objections do you, Draco?" she asked, aware that her husband didn't look too sure about Daphne's idea.

"I guess not, just make sure you take it easy," Draco warned.

"Don't worry, I'll look after her," Daphne assured her friend. "I don't want anything to happen to my two little godchildren."

"And what makes you think you're going to be godmother?" Draco teased.

"Who else are you going to ask, Pansy? She's hardly the maternal sort. She had a child because it was expected of her. It's not like she actually spends any time with her son. He's raised by nannies," Daphne said. "Besides, we agreed all this when you were married. I was Hermione's maid-of-honour, Blaise was your best man, and you returned the honour when Blaise and I married. And we agreed to do the same with children. When Blaise and I have children, you and Hermione will be godparents."

"I won't be holding my breath on that," Draco laughed. "Blaise has no intention of becoming a father anytime soon."

"He also said he had no intention of getting married, and we're just weeks away from our third wedding anniversary," Daphne countered. "We will be having children, he just doesn't know it yet."

"It's clear who's the boss in that marriage," Lucius laughed. "Poor Blaise, I should have given him more advice on being assertive and standing up to women."

"You can't give advice on something you can't manage yourself," Narcissa laughed. "After all, we all know I'm the boss on our marriage."

"So you think, but I only let you think you're in charge. It's all an illusion, Cissa. I'm the one whose really in charge," Lucius retorted.

"You just keep telling yourself that, dear," Narcissa said, patting her husband's hand condescendingly and causing him to pout.

Laughter rippled around the table at Lucius's wounded expression and the conversation turned to other matters. All through dinner the conversation and laughter flowed and everyone had a good time. However, the dinner ended up lasting longer than expected and Narcissa announced she would have to be leaving as she promised to go and visit her friend, who was still seriously ill in hospital. As Narcissa explained the situation to the Greengrasses, Hermione hauled herself to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Draco asked his wife.

"To the bathroom," Hermione replied. "And no, I do not need you to come and hold my hand. I can pee on my own. I've certainly had enough practice the way these two dance on my bladder."

As Hermione headed to the bathroom, no-one noticed the large party of Weasleys arriving and being led to their table on the second floor. And as such they had no idea they had an audience as Narcissa said her goodbyes and got to her feet.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Lucius asked as his helped his wife on with her coat.

"I'll be fine," Narcissa replied, giving him a peck on the cheek. "You stay here and enjoy yourself, and if you're a good boy when I come home tonight you can show me how in charge you are in the bedroom."

"That's a promise," Lucius returned with a smirk as his wife said goodbye to everyone else and departed the restaurant.

Narcissa had only just left when Hermione returned from the bathroom, and spotted her mother-in-law had left most of her rich chocolate and cherry mousse.

"Have it," Lucius said, gesturing for Hermione to sit down next to him and finish his wife's dessert.

"Is it not greedy?" Hermione asked, her eyes lingering on the chocolate dessert.

"I say eat it," Viviana Greengrass offered. "No-one is going to call you greedy when you're pregnant. When I was carrying Astoria, I regularly had midnight snacks and Hector here didn't say a word."

"I valued my life," Hector joked as Hermione sat down in Narcissa's chair and tucked into the leftover dessert. "You were extremely hormonal when you were expecting Astoria. Not like when you were pregnant with Daphne. That was a perfect pregnancy."

Knowing her parents could debate for ages over the two very different pregnancies they'd experienced, Daphne announced it was also time she was going. She was hoping that Blaise would be home and she would at least get to see her husband before she went to bed.

"We'll walk you home," Draco offered. "I haven't seen Blaise for a while, it would be nice to say hello."

"I don't mean to be rude, but I really don't think I have the energy to walk Daphne home," Hermione said apologetically. "But you can still go and see Blaise," she suggested to her husband.

"Don't worry, I'll get Hermione home safely," Lucius said, pre-empting his son's next words.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked his father and wife.

"We're sure," Hermione assured him. "Be a gentleman and walk Daphne home. I'll see you at home."

"And I'll be in touch about the spa weekend," Daphne said as she got to her feet and Draco helped her on with her coat.

"I fancy another drink," Lucius said as Draco and Daphne headed off into the night. "Another chocolate mousse?" he asked his daughter-in-law.

"I shouldn't," Hermione replied with a shake of her head.

"Go on, be bad," Lucius urged with a smirk. "I won't call you greedy."

"Okay you've twisted my arm," Hermione said with a chuckle.

Calling the waiter over, Lucius ordered fresh drinks for himself and the Greengrasses and another chocolate and cherry mousse for Hermione. Fifteen minutes later, Lucius paid for the meal and saying goodbye to the Greengrasses he and Hermione left the restaurant arm in arm, never realising that Hermione's friends had witnessed the end of their evening and yet again jumped to conclusions regarding the pair.


	6. Chapter 6

Seamus and Dean's bar was called 'The Lucky Leprechaun', and had an Irish theme. It also oozed warmth and the second she set foot inside the place, Hermione felt comfortable. She could feel Seamus and Dean's friendly personalities throughout the whole bar.

"Hermione," Dean cried happily, appearing at Hermione's side almost the second she entered the property. "It's so good to see you again."

"You too, Dean," Hermione returned, hugging her old friend. "And you know Draco," she said as her husband appeared at her side.

"Malfoy," Dean greeted, offering the blond his hand to shake.

"Thomas," Draco replied.

"Friends use each other's first names," Hermione tutted. "Draco, this is Dean. Dean, this is Draco."

Sharing an amused look at the bossy tone in Hermione's voice, Draco and Dean shook hands for the second time, this time greeting each other by their first name.

"And I hope you don't mind that we brought along some extra friends," Hermione said, gesturing to Blaise and Daphne, who were hovering just behind her and Draco.

Draco had invited Blaise and Daphne to join them the evening he'd walked Daphne home from the Italian restaurant. Hermione had thought it was a good idea as she knew Draco was fairly nervous about being surrounded by some many former Gryffindors, and she thought it would be good for him to have moral support.

"Not at all," Dean said with a grin as he greeted Blaise and Daphne. "In fact, Seamus and I have also added to the numbers. Come through to the V.I.W.W section. It's all ours for the evening."

"V.I.W.W?" Hermione questioned with a baffled frown.

"Very Important Witches and Wizards," Dean replied with a smile.

"I like that," Blaise laughed. "We just use the bog standard V.I.P areas in my hotels."

"We were going to use that, but we decided to inject a bit of humour into things," Dean explained.

"I love it," Blaise said encouragingly.

The V.I.W.W section of The Lucky Leprechaun was a cosy corner of the bar, sectioned from the main room by a set of swinging doors. Even a section of the bar was located in the V.I.W.W area, and Seamus was behind the bar sorting some drinks. And sitting at one of the tables nearest to the flickering fire were Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.

"Neville," Hermione called in glee, grinning at the sight of the first friend she'd made in the wizarding world.

"Hi Hermione," Neville greeted as he jumped to his feet and embraced his old friend. "I hope you don't mind us gate-crashing. We were in having a drink the other day and Dean and Seamus mentioned you were coming in tonight, so they invited us to join you. It's not a problem is it?"

"Definitely not," Hermione replied. "It's amazing. You were on my list of people to get in contact with, but life has just been so hectic recently."

"Buying a new house and having a baby will do that for you," Neville laughed. "You don't do things by halves, do you, Hermione?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Hermione chuckled.

After greeting Luna and Seamus, who had popped out from behind the bar, Hermione then introduced her husband and friends. Thankfully there were no big dramas, and even though Neville remarked that he would never have pictured her married to Draco, there was clearly no problem with whom she was married to. Hermione just hoped it was the same when Ron arrived, as to be honest he was the most temperamental of all her old friends and quite honestly she didn't know how he would feel about who she'd ended up married to.

"While we're waiting for the others, let's have a drink," Seamus said, grabbing some drinks menus from the bar he handed them around. "And this is for you, Hermione," he said, handing her a slightly different menu. "Virgin drinks."

"I would hardly call Hermione a virgin," Blaise joked. "Or did you miss the fact she's pregnant with Slytherin spawn."

"Hey, do not call my children spawn," Draco said, playfully hitting his best friend on the arm.

"Children as in more than one?" Dean questioned as Draco and Blaise bickered between themselves.

"Twins," Hermione replied with a smile.

"Twins are so adorable," Luna gushed. "Do you know what sex they are?"

"One of each," Hermione answered. "Now we just have to pick names. We want to keep with the family tradition of using names of stars or constellations, but we're having trouble agreeing on any."

"I don't see what the big problem is, we all know that when it comes down to it, Draco will give in and go along with what you want," Blaise laughed.

"You make me sound like a complete and utter marshmallow," Draco pouted.

"When it comes to your wife, you are," Daphne chuckled. "Then again when it comes to Hermione, she has all the Malfoy men under her spell. Your father is no better."

"I think it's because secretly he always wanted a daughter as well as a son," Draco said. "I was the heir to follow in his footsteps, but I think he also wanted a little princess he could dote on and spoil rotten. And then along came Hermione, and he finally got the daughter he always wanted."

"I doubt I'm the daughter he's always wanted," Hermione laughed. "I argue with him far too often to be the perfect daughter."

"And that is why he loves you," Draco countered. "You dare say things to him even mother won't. He admires your fire."

"I think he just likes a good argument," Hermione said.

"Wow, it sounds like you're really happy," Neville remarked. He had been wondering how Hermione got along with her in-laws given their past beliefs, but it would seem she was very much part of the Malfoy family.

"I am," Hermione confirmed with a smile. "And now we're home and I'm reunited with all my old friends, I'm even happier."

"I'd drink to that, if only we had drinks," Blaise laughed.

"Sod it, I forgot the drinks," Seamus tutted. "What do people want?"

In the midst of everyone ordering drinks, and Dean and Seamus getting the orders sorted, no-one noticed the doors to the V.I.W.W section swing open and three stunned people ground to a halt at the sight that greeted them. Harry, Ron and Ginny had all been preparing to spend an evening in the presence of Lucius Malfoy, but the blond wizard was no-where in sight. Instead Draco, Daphne and Blaise were with Hermione.

"Hey guys," Dean called, catching sight of the newcomers out of the corner of his eye. "What do you want to drink?"

"Whatever," Ron muttered, his attention on Hermione, who had gotten up once she realised they were there and was heading towards them.

"Hi," Hermione said softly, not quite sure what to expect from Ron and Ginny. Although to be fair, for some reason Harry also looked as though he didn't know what to say.

"Hi Hermione," Harry greeted, regaining his senses quicker than his wife and brother-in-law.

"You don't mind that we've brought along a couple of friends, do you?" Hermione checked, wondering if it was Daphne and Blaise's presence that was so off-putting for her former friends.

"No," Harry answered, even though he thought it was rather bizarre that Draco was one of the friends she'd brought with her.

"So where is he?" Ron asked, speaking for the first time as he, Harry and Ginny fully entered the V.I.W.W. section.

"Who?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"Your lover," Ginny answered.

"Lover?" Hermione queried, aware that everyone had gone quiet and was watching the conversation with interest.

"For Merlin's sake Hermione, there's no need to play coy," Ron snorted. "We all know who we are going to meet tonight. You don't have to pretend as though it's not happening. We know all about your affair with Lucius."

"My what?" Hermione spluttered as out of the corner of her eye she saw Draco jump to his feet.

"We can't pretend to approve, but it's not our place to judge," Ginny said. "Especially since his own son seems aware of the matter," she added as Draco strode over to Hermione's side.

"Let me get this straight," Draco drawled. "You three are under the impression that Hermione is my father's lover, and that you were meeting them both here tonight."

"Yes," Harry answered warily, his instincts telling him that something had gone wrong and they were about to be made fools of.

"How?" Hermione blurted. "How could you think that? We saw each other the other day Harry. Are you telling me that you thought I was with Lucius then?"

"You weren't?" Harry questioned, the uneasiness in the pit of his stomach growing.

"No, I bloody well wasn't," Hermione snapped. "I can't believe this. I thought you knew the truth and were accepting of it."

"Just what is the truth?" Ron asked. Like Harry he was coming to see that something had gone wrong somewhere, and somehow wires had been crossed and they didn't know the full story.

"Lucius isn't my lover," Hermione said. "He's my father-in-law."

"Father-in-law," Ron muttered. "But that would mean you're married to his son."

"That was some fast thinking there, Weasley," Blaise muttered sarcastically.

"Yes, I'm married to Draco," Hermione confirmed.

"No, no, no, this can't be right," Ginny stated with a stubborn shake of her head. "I've seen you with Lucius. I've seen you with my own eyes."

"Doing what?" Hermione asked.

"You were at the auction together," Ginny said. "He had his hands all over you."

"I would hardly say they were all over me," Hermione snorted. "He probably helped me from my seat, and possibly kept his arm around me. I can't say I remember exactly, but it was certainly nothing inappropriate."

"What about when you were shopping?" Ginny demanded, not ready to let her theories go. "Mum and I were right there, and we saw and heard everything."

"What did you see and hear?" Draco asked.

"Lucius wanted them to buy a new bed," Ginny announced. "He was virtually bouncing up and down on one, trying it out. He mentioned it would be good for sex."

"He did," Hermione confirmed with a nod of his head. "But I told him that Draco and I didn't need a new bed."

"You never mentioned his name," Ginny said, pointing her finger at Draco. "It sounded as though you meant you and Lucius didn't need a new bed. And then you made some allusion to christening your current bed when you moved."

"Again, I was talking about Draco and I," Hermione replied. "Although I will admit, unless you knew the situation, it would have sounded awfully suspicious."

"I blame father for that," Draco tutted. "He just can't help himself. Whenever he's in the presence of an attractive witch, he can't help but flirt. Even when that witch is his daughter-in-law."

"It wasn't just flirting," Ginny argued. "It was full-on sexual innuendo."

"He's good at that as well," Draco replied with a shrug. "I think he just likes people to know he's still more than capable in that department."

"I hope you're that capable when you reach his age," Hermione said with a slight smirk. "I hope that's another way you take after your father – a healthy sex drive."

"Don't worry, we'll still be going when we reach my parent's age," Draco assured his wife.

"We don't need to hear that," Ron muttered, shuddering at the mere thought of his ex-girlfriend getting frisky with Draco at any age.

"I still don't get it," Ginny muttered. "What about dinner the other night? You were there," she said to her husband and brother. "You saw it."

"Saw what?" Blaise questioned. He was assuming they were referring to the evening Daphne had dined with her parents and the Malfoys, but he hadn't known Hermione's friends had been around.

"What exactly did we see, Ginny?" Harry asked. Now he knew what he did about Hermione and Draco, he was viewing the evening in a different light and he could now see that they'd merely jumped to conclusions based on what they thought they knew.

"You know what we saw, Harry," Ginny snarled. "No sooner had Narcissa left the restaurant then Hermione turned up and took her place. And she didn't leave with Draco, she left with Lucius."

"Because I was walking my friend home and my heavily pregnant wife didn't have the energy to join us," Draco said. "And it sounds to me as if you only witnessed the back end of our dinner. We all ate together, and mother left early to go and visit a friend who is in hospital."

"And I just happened to be in the bathroom at the time," Hermione added. "I think you just saw what you wanted to see based on what you thought you knew."

"They're right Ginny," Ron said quietly. "We saw no real evidence that Hermione and Lucius were together. Everything has just been assumptions on our part."

"What I don't get is why," Dean said. "Even if this began when you saw Hermione and Lucius together at the auction, why would you think they were a couple? When Seamus and I spoke to Hermione, we asked her about her life?"

"Yeah, even if you didn't get the chance at the auction, why didn't you ask Hermione when you saw her, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"I was embarrassed," Harry confessed. "I didn't know how to ask one of my oldest friends how she'd came to be involved with a married man. And I certainly didn't know how to ask with Lucius in ear-shot. I was afraid he might have hexed me for prying or something."

"I never thought of that," Dean said with a thoughtful frown. "Lucius was right at Hermione's side when I asked her what she was doing with him. Did I risk my safety by doing that?"

"No, if anything father would have appreciated your straight-forwardness," Draco replied with a chuckle. Given what was happening it would be easy to be angry at Hermione's three idiot friends, but Draco didn't want his wife to get agitated in her condition, and in all honesty the misunderstanding was fairly amusing. "And to be fair, if you had asked Potter, he would have likely had a good laugh at your theory and been pretty flattered that you all thought he could bag himself a hot, young mistress."

"I just can't believe you thought that all the time we were talking," Hermione said, not sounding quite as amused as her husband. "So when I was telling you about the pregnancy and everything that had happened in the past, you thought I was talking about a life with Lucius. A life as his mistress."

"It sounds crazy now," Harry admitted. "But at the time, we were all so convinced we were right. I should have asked, but I just didn't want you to get mad at me."

"Now why would I get mad at you for thinking I was the sort of witch who would sleep with a married man?" Hermione questioned bitingly. "Although not just that. You thought I was Lucius's mistress. You thought I was carrying his child and setting up home with him behind his wife's back. You really don't think a lot of me, do you?"

"We were just confused, Hermione," Harry pleaded. "Please give us a second chance. We want you back in our lives."

"Even though I'm a Malfoy?" Hermione questioned.

"Yes," Ron answered with a nod, not even having to think the matter through as seeing Hermione again reminded him how much he'd missed her. "We're sorry Hermione. We jumped to conclusions and we judged you unfairly. We should have known you never would have been someone's mistress. But the truth is, we haven't known you for a long time and people can change."

"They can," Draco agreed, taking hold of his wife's hand and deciding to play peacemaker as he knew that if Hermione didn't give her friends another chance she would always regret it. "Me and my parents are proof of that. I say give your friends another chance, Hermione. It would be easy to hold grudges and be offended by what they thought, but we can just laugh it off and in time it'll be a humorous anecdote and we'll look back and laugh at the time your friends thought you were father's lover."

"You're right, I don't want to hold grudges," Hermione said with a firm nod as she made the choice to let her annoyance go and embrace the humour in the situation. "I say we start fresh tonight. So Harry, Ron, Ginny, this is my husband, Draco Malfoy. Draco, these are my good friends, Harry, Ron and Ginny."

As everyone said their hellos and fresh starts were made, Hermione noticed that Ginny seemed rather put out. While Harry and Ron were obviously embarrassed, and just as obviously relieved that they'd been wrong, Ginny seemed perturbed that their theory had fallen flat on it's face. It was as though she was disappointed that Hermione wasn't revealed to be some sort of scarlet woman who was having an affair with an older, married man. All Hermione could hope was that she didn't cause any trouble, and didn't try and stop Harry and Ron reigniting their friendship.

"If this is a fresh start, could I ask some questions?" Ron asked once everyone had drinks and were settled down at the tables to talk and catch-up.

"Ask away," Hermione said.

"How did this happen?" Ron asked, gesturing at Hermione and Draco. "And how are you so comfortable with Lucius Malfoy that is could appear as though you're a couple?"

"Starting with our relationship, as you know that began when I went on holiday," Hermione said. "Draco was just moving to France at the time, and his penthouse wasn't ready so he was staying at the same hotel I was."

"On Hermione's first night, we were seated at tables beside each other for dinner," Draco continued. "It seemed childish to ignore each other, so we got talking. There was an instant spark between us and after having dinner together the following evening, things progressed from there."

"And you chose to move to stay with him?" Ron questioned. He'd been shocked at the time when Harry had told him Hermione wasn't returning from her holiday, and it was still just as shocking to believe years later.

"It was a case of following my heart," Hermione returned. "Things were pretty lousy back home. You and I hadn't worked out and things weren't good between us. My job at the ministry was pretty boring and not what I had expected. Then I went on holiday, met Draco and felt alive for the first time in months. I knew I was taking a chance and that it might not work out, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't at least try. It was the same with us Ron, deep down we both knew it wouldn't work, but we had to try."

"I guess," Ron conceded. He couldn't deny he still had feelings for Hermione, but if he was being brutally honest with himself, they never would have worked as a couple for any length of time. Even their brief relationship had torn them apart, so any longer together would have made things so bad that even now they wouldn't have been able to try and become friends again.

"And you were lucky, it worked out," Daphne said, smiling at her two friends.

"We were very lucky," Hermione agreed, exchanging warm smiles with Draco. "Lucky to have found each other."

"And what about Lucius?" Ginny questioned, still sounding put out to have been proved wrong about Hermione. "How are you so close to him? I thought all Malfoys hated muggleborns."

"I won't deny how I was raised, and how my parents were raised," Draco said. "And I won't even deny how badly I behaved during my early years at Hogwarts. But my opinions on muggleborns started to change in school. When I finally told my parents about my change of attitude, they weren't particularly happy about it, but they agreed that I had the right to make my own choices in life and to believe what I wanted to believe. Ultimately, I was still their son and my change of heart towards muggleborns didn't change that."

"So what changed their minds?" Harry asked.

"To be honest, I'm still not sure their minds are entirely changed," Draco admitted. "I was still young when I changed my views, for them it had been ingrained in them for decades. You can't completely change your mindset overnight. But they do try, and they are accepting of Hermione."

"Why?" Ginny demanded. "What makes her so special?"

"Hermione is special because I love her," Draco replied honestly. "That is the reason my parents gave her a chance. They weren't happy when I told them I was dating a muggleborn, but they gave her a chance for me. And now she's a part of the family and they love her."

"So what, she charmed them?" Ginny snorted, her tone making it clear that she didn't think Hermione could charm anyone.

"To be honest after the first time I met Lucius, I was convinced I'd turned him against me even more," Hermione replied, ignoring Ginny's attitude as she didn't want to cause trouble. "Every topic that was raised we had differing opinions and I didn't shy away from voicing mine. And as for Narcissa, I thought she hated me because I had no interest in fashion and beauty and shopping and playing the perfect hostess and dutiful wife."

"But she was wrong," Draco finished. "Father admired her ability to stick to her own opinions and not let him badger her into agreeing with him. And mother didn't mind that Hermione wasn't interested in some of her more frivolous pastimes, instead they bonded over mother's other interests like literature and history."

"It sounds like everything worked out perfectly for you," Harry remarked, sounding slightly sad at the idea of Hermione having the perfect life which didn't include him.

"Things have worked out pretty well, but they're better now we're home and I've got my friends back in my life again," Hermione said. "I do have my friends back in my life again, don't I?"

"Of course," Harry said eagerly. "Just don't hold our crazy ideas about Lucius against us."

"I won't," Hermione promised with a chuckle. "I propose a toast. To old friends and fresh starts."

Raising their glasses, everyone joined in the toast and Hermione hoped it was a sign of things to come. She still wasn't sure how things would work out with Ginny, but she was hopeful that everyone else would keep in contact and she would once again have her old friends in her life. And it really couldn't have come at a better time as very soon the twins would be making their entrance into the world, and Hermione would love nothing more than for her children to grow up surrounded by surrogate Aunts, Uncles and a bucket load of love and friendship.

* * *

 **A/N – I hope people aren't too disappointed with how the reunion played out. Whenever I write a reunion story, I'm never quite sure what the end result of the reunion will be. It might sound odd to people who don't write, but often the characters decide the outcome for you. Another time I might have wrote this chapter and the outcome would have been different, but this is what happened when I wrote the chapter and I'm very happy with the result. Now there's just one more chapter to go and then my first story of the year is finished.**


	7. Chapter 7

Right from the beginning of her pregnancy, Hermione had been aware of what date she would give birth, but that didn't stop the nerves when the day rolled around. After all they'd been through it would break Hermione and Draco's hearts if something went wrong at the last hurdle, and Hermione couldn't help but worry. Fortunately, she had Draco at her side the entire time and her husband did all he could to keep her calm and positive. Luckily, it was a carefully monitored birth, and in the end it was fairly straight forward. She was in labour for just over twenty hours, and at the end of it the couple were proud parents of a perfect baby boy, and his younger by three minutes, sister.

Following the birth, Hermione and the twins remained in the private hospital for a day while their healer ran checks to ensure they had all come through the experience unscathed. Happily, all three were given a perfect bill of health. The only thing the Healer couldn't yet tell was if the twins had magic. Hermione and Draco would just have to be like every other set of magical parents and wait and see if their children showed signs of accidental magic as they started to grow.

"Now all we need are names," Hermione remarked to her husband as they packed to go home. Home was now their new house, and although over half of the house still needed decorating, the main rooms were all sorted.

"We have one," Draco replied. "Or have you gone off, Scorpius?"

"No, I think Scorpius is perfect," Hermione said, moving over to the crib and gazing down at her two little miracles. "But what is this little princess called?"

"Cassiopeia or Carina?" Draco mused, joining his wife. After much debate they were the two names they were contemplating, but they both favoured a different one.

"Since we can't decide between them, what about something else," Hermione suggested. "What do you think of Lyra?"

"We did both like Lyra," Draco said. "But we moved past it weeks ago. Why is it suddenly back in the running?"

"It's your father's choice," Hermione admitted. "We were talking a couple of days ago and I mentioned we were debating between Cassiopeia and Carina. He said he preferred Lyra."

"Are we seriously going to allow my father to name our daughter?" Draco chuckled.

"Do you have a better idea?" Hermione asked with a shrug. "Besides, the more I think about it, the more I think it's perfect. Scorpius and Lyra, they just seem to go together, don't you think?"

"They do," Draco replied. "What do you think sweetheart, are you a Lyra?" he asked his daughter.

"I don't think she can answer yet, she's only a day old," Hermione laughed as her daughter slowly blinked open her eyes.

"But she can understand me, she opened her eyes," Draco said. "I think we should take that as a yes. Her name is Lyra."

"Your father will be thrilled," Hermione said.

"He just wanted a granddaughter with the same initials as him," Draco joked. "So should we be getting these two home? Everyone will be dying to meet them?"

"Everyone?" Hermione questioned.

"Damn, I wasn't supposed to say that," Draco muttered sheepishly. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"What was supposed to be a surprise?" Hermione asked. "What are you up to, Draco?"

"So many people were eager to meet the twins, so I thought we could do it all at once," Draco replied. "I allowed mother and Daphne to arrange a welcome home party. But if you're not feeling up for it, I can cancel."

"No, it would be nice to see everyone," Hermione decided. "You did remember to invite my friends, didn't you?"

Since their meeting with Hermione's old friends, things were progressing nicely in terms of re-establishing old friendships. She had initially been worried that Ron still held a torch for her, and while he had admitted to still having feelings for her, he'd also assured her that he fully accepted that she was with Draco and was happy. And surprisingly, both he and Harry were completely fine with the fact she was now a Malfoy. Ginny on the other hand was still being standoffish with Hermione, and the two witches had barely spoken since that first reunion. However, that wasn't stopping her friendship with Harry and Ron returning to what it once had been.

"I did remember," Draco confirmed. "Although Potter made some pathetic excuse for his wife not being able to attend."

"What sort of excuse?" Hermione asked, not really all that surprised that Ginny wouldn't be there. She now knew that she and Ginny would never be friends again, they would merely be acquaintances because of Harry and Ron.

"It started with something to do with babysitters, and when I pointed out the boys were also welcome to join us, it became some prior engagement," Draco replied. "To be honest I didn't push the matter as Potter was clearly embarrassed. It seems pretty clear to me that his wife doesn't really want to associate with us."

"I think she had her nose put out of joint when she found out I wasn't having an affair with Lucius," Hermione said. "That would have suited her, if I was some secret mistress of an older wizard."

"I can't believe how threatened she is by you," Draco said with a shake of his head.

"She's really not worth fretting about," Hermione retorted. "It's not like we have to be friends. I can be friends with Harry and Ron and not really see her. It's not like we were ever that close. Just as long as she doesn't try and stop my friendship with Harry and Ron."

"If she does, I'll have something to say to her," Draco warned. "As you said, you can be friends with Potter and Weasley without having to involve her. I never did understand why she always hung around you guys rather than make friends her own age. I can't imagine Daphne's sister trying to hang around us at Hogwarts."

"I can't see that either," Hermione laughed. "Then again, Astoria barely has anything to do with you now."

"That's because she has her own friends and never needed to latch on Daphne's," Draco replied. "Do you think our twins will share friends or have different sets of friends? I suppose it's different for twins."

"I guess that will depend on if they both have magic, or if they do, if they're both sorted into the same house," Hermione said. "I know two sets of twins, and they're both different. Padma and Parvati were in different houses, and they're very different people, so they have two sets of friends. Whereas Fred and George are two halves of a whole and their friends set is the same."

"And I guess having one of each sex might make things different as well," Draco said.

"All we can do is wait and see what happens as they grow up," Hermione said. "Not that we'll ever find out if we don't get moving. We can't spend the rest of our lives in hospital."

"Let's go home," Draco grinned.

Settling the twins in the two carry chairs Lucius and Narcissa had dropped off that morning, each of them picked up a twin and Draco grabbed Hermione's bag. They then made sure they were officially checked out and had the dates of their next appointments, to keep a check on the twins, before thanking the medical staff who had helped them have their miracle babies and heading home.

When the couple first arrived home everything was so quiet that they wondered if there had been a change of plans and the welcome home party had been cancelled. But then they entered the large front room and were assaulted by the sight of their friends and family all gathered to welcome the newest members of the Malfoy family. Hermione was especially delighted to see all of her friends, including the Weasley twins, whom she had also reconnected with.

"So where are my little bundles of joy?" Narcissa asked.

"Let's do this properly," Draco said as he gently put down the carry chair he was carrying and lifted his son into his arms. "Everyone, this is our son, Scorpius Malfoy."

"He is gorgeous," Daphne gasped.

"Wow, he looks just like you, Draco," Luna remarked.

"Thanks," Draco replied with a wolfish grin, causing several people to laugh.

"What?" Luna asked in confusion.

"Because Daphne called Scorpius gorgeous and you then said he looked like Draco, it was as though you were calling Draco gorgeous," Neville explained.

"Well he is actually," Luna replied with a careless shrug.

"Your wife has good taste, Long… Neville," Draco joked, catching himself before he used Neville's surname.

"Long Neville?" Blaise cackled.

"Hey, this using first names is hard after so many years of only using surnames," Draco said defensively.

"I'll second that," Ron muttered.

"You lot can call yourselves what you want, I want to see my granddaughter," Lucius interrupted.

"Here she is," Hermione said as she plucked Lyra from her chair and settled her in her arms. "Scorpius's little sister, Lyra Malfoy."

"Lyra?" Lucius queried with a smug smirk. "What a lovely name."

"Yes, we know it was your choice," Draco retorted with a roll of his eyes. "These children may not be yours, but you still got to name one."

"It was the least I deserved after you stole my mistress, Draco," Lucius joked, smirking widely as Harry and Ron flushed in embarrassment.

When Hermione and Draco had told Lucius and Narcissa about the conclusions her friends had reached, Lucius had found it hilarious. And of course he'd also been a bit smug that people honestly thought he still had it in him to attract such a young and attractive witch. Not that he'd ever thought he'd lost his sex appeal, but it had been good to hear that other people still thought he was attractive enough to warrant having a mistress young enough to be his daughter.

"Stop teasing Lucius," Hermione scolded. "Come and give your granddaughter a hug."

While Hermione handed Lyra over to Lucius, Draco settled Scorpius in Narcissa's arms. With the twins in the arms of their doting grandparents, Hermione and Draco then used the opportunity to thank their friends for coming to see them.

"Don't worry about Lucius," Hermione assured Harry and Ron. "He'll eventually get tired of teasing you."

"Will he really?" Ron snorted sceptically. "In his shoes, I'm not sure I would forget what we thought. It's been weeks, and I still can't believe we were that stupid."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself, Ron," Hermione said. "It's in the past. We're all supposed to be moving on."

"We are," Ron agreed. "And speaking of moving on, Harry and I have a present for the twins."

For the first time, Hermione noticed that a small purple gift bag was sitting beside the chair where Ron was sitting. Handing the bag over to Hermione, Ron watched along with Harry as their best friend opened it up and dove into the gift they'd had especially made for the twins. What Hermione found when she opened the bag was two small soft toys. One was a green snake with the name 'Malfoy' embroidered on it in silver thread, and the second was a red lion with the name 'Malfoy' embroidered in gold thread.

"We know they might not both have magic, but whether they have magic or not, they're still part of both Slytherin house and Gryffindor house," Harry explained. "And we wanted them to know that Gryffindor and Slytherin are part of their heritage."

"Thank you, I think it's a lovely idea and the toys are gorgeous," Hermione said with a smile as she hugged both Harry and Ron. "And thank you both for being here. A few months ago, I never could have imagined that today would be like this. I never could have imagined that I could get my friends back. I always hoped that things could be fixed, but I wasn't sure."

"It looks like our friendship was stronger than even we realised," Harry replied. "But I'm telling you one thing. Nothing is going to tear us apart again. We will always be there for each other. Promise?"

"I promise," Hermione said seriously, looking towards Ron.

"I promise," Ron said solemnly.

Knowing that both wizards meant what they said, and nothing would break them apart again, Hermione turned her focus to her family. Returning home had been the best decision she and Draco had ever made. Not only did they have their miracle twins, but then now had their dream house and Hermione had her friends back in her life. Everything had worked out perfectly, and regardless of whether her children had magic or not, she couldn't be happier.

 **The End.**

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 **A/N – Thank you all for reading and reviewing. As always, I'm blown away by the support I receive and it's always so heart-warming to know so many people enjoy my stories.**

 **Later this year I will be publishing my new collection series – After The End. The collection will feature short follow-ups from various stories, answering questions people have. At the minute I've done a few chapters, including one for this story where it's revealed if the twins have magic. But before I start to publish the collection, I want to write a few more pieces, so it won't be coming until later this year. But if there's anything you want to know about any story, drop me a message and I'll try my best to write a piece to answer your questions.**

 **Thanks again for reading, and hope to see you soon with a new story.**


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